Gaming machine, playing cards, and games using the playing cards

ABSTRACT

Nonconventional playing cards, nonconventional decks of playing cards and method of playing and presenting games using such cards are provided. Each card of a nonconventional deck of playing cards has a card face bearing at least a first indicium, a second indicium and a third indicium. The first indicium includes a card character, the second indicium includes a suit, and the third indicium includes a color.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Application No. 62/864,605, which was filed on Jun. 21, 2019, the contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference.

FIELD

The disclosed embodiments relate to gaming equipment and methods of presenting and playing games. In particular, embodiments relate to a gaming machine that plays games using a digital version of a new deck of cards, and games played with the new deck of cards.

BACKGROUND

Game developers and gaming machine manufacturers continually seek to develop new wagering games that are desirable to players. Some of the gaming machines play card games including various versions of poker.

In the area of card games, most of the development has related to adding wagering features to or modifying the rules of existing games, but where the game is still played using one or more conventional decks of cards. For example, the game of blackjack is well known. However, this game has a relatively low payout. Thus, many side bets have been added to the game based upon combinations of the dealt cards, wherein the player may be paid a large jackpot for a winning side bet. Similar features have been developed relative to a wide variety of other traditional games which use conventional 52 card decks, such as variants of poker games, blackjack, baccarat and similar games.

One problem with creating new card game variants or entirely new card games relates to the use of one or more standard playing card decks in the use of the games. Only a certain number of variants of these games can be developed based upon the use of the same deck of cards. At the same time, care must be exercised when deviating from the use of standard playing cards or other gaming equipment (such as standard dice, etc.), given that players are familiar with that equipment. What is needed is a new type of card deck and new games that are enjoyable and exciting for players.

SUMMARY

Embodiments disclosed herein comprise nonconventional playing cards, decks of nonconventional playing cards, and methods of playing and presenting games using nonconventional playing cards, and gaming devices and systems for implementing such games.

According to one embodiment, a nonconventional deck of playing cards is provided. The nonconventional deck of playing cards may include a plurality of playing cards. Each card of the plurality of playing cards may have a card face bearing at least a first indicium, a second indicium and a third indicium. The first indicium may include a card character, the second indicium may include a suit, and the third indicium may include a color.

The card character on each of the playing cards may include one of Ace, King, Queen, Jack or Deuce. The suits may include hearts, diamonds, clubs, and spades. The plurality of playing cards may include twenty cards bearing the Ace, twenty cards bearing the King, twenty cards bearing the Queen, twenty cards bearing the Jack, and twenty cards bearing the Deuce. The different colors used as the third indicium for each card may be one of five different colors. Thus, the various sets of twenty cards each have a unique combination of character, suit, and color.

In some embodiments, the card character is one of a plurality of different characters where the plurality of different characters has a defined hierarchy. Similarly, the suit is one of a plurality of different suits where the plurality of different suits may have a defined hierarchy. Likewise, the color is one of a plurality of different colors where the plurality of different colors may have a defined hierarchy. In some embodiments, the hierarchy of one of the types of indicium may be dependent on another indicium.

In some embodiments, a reverse side opposite the face of each card of the plurality of playing cards shows one of the first, second, or third indicium. For example, the reverse side may include the third indicium, or color.

In another exemplary embodiment, a method of game play using a nonconventional deck of cards is provided. The method may include a plurality of playing cards. Each card of the plurality of playing cards may have a card face bearing at least a first indicium, a second indicium and a third indicium. The first indicium may include a card character, the second indicium may include a suit, and the third indicium may include a color. A gaming table may also be provided that has a playing surface and a game layout.

A player input of at least one ante wager may be received, such as at the gaming table, from players participating in the game. A two-card hand may be dealt to each player from said deck of nonconventional playing cards. Door cards may be dealt, such as to a community card location. An amount of door cards to be dealt may correspond to a number of players participating in the game.

Each door card may be auctioned and awarded to the player who has made a highest door card auction bid during the auction. Auctions may continue until all door cards have been auctioned or passed. In some embodiments, the auction may continue until all door cards have been auctioned, or one or more door cards has been passed twice. Players not successfully acquiring a door card may fold.

A random number of community cards may be dealt, and at least one play wager, election to check, or an election to fold is received from each of the players. An outcome of the game is determined with reference to an up to a five-card hand formed by each player's two-card hand, each player's door card, and up to two of the community cards. The wagers may then be resolved based on the outcome of the game.

In some embodiments, in order to determine the game outcome, the five-card hands are compared to determine which hand outranks all other five-card hands. The hand outranking all others may be designated as the winning hand according to a predetermined five-card hand ranking. The ranking includes hand combinations based on the first, second, and third indicia of each of the cards in the hand. Winnings may then be awarded to the player with the winning hand.

In some embodiments, the first, second, or third indicium is shown on a reverse side of the card face of each card. This increases the strategy involved in the game as all players know at least one of the three indicia of each card in play.

In an exemplary embodiment, the two-card hand dealt to each player is dealt with the cards face down. When a blind bid is received prior to the auctioning step for a first door card, the auctioning step for the first door card is completed with the first door card face down. The door card may be revealed face up to all players after the auction. However, when the blind bid is not received, the auctioning step for the first door card is completed with the first door card face up. In some embodiments, an amount of the blind bid is set based on the roll of a wager cube.

In one embodiment, the random number of community cards is determined by a six-sided die. The random number of community cards may alternatively be determined by a random number generator.

In some embodiments, the community cards are revealed prior to receiving the at least one play wager or the election to fold. For example, the community cards may be revealed incrementally, such as two cards at a time, and play wagers, checks, or fold elections may proceed after each reveal. The plurality of playing cards may comprise one hundred playing cards, where the character is one of five different characters, the suit is one of four different suits, and the color is one of five different colors.

According to another embodiment, a method for presenting a game at a gaming machine is provided. The method may include providing a gaming machine for presenting the game. The gaming machine may include an input device, at least one display, a wager accepting device configured to receive monetary value from a player, and a processor configured to execute machine readable instructions stored on the gaming machine.

The gaming device may be configured to receive a wager from the player via the input device and display on the at least one display cards in each of a plurality of card locations of a card matrix. The displayed cards may be randomly selected from a nonconventional deck of cards where each card has a card face bearing at least a first indicium, a second indicium and a third indicium. The first indicium may be a card character, the second indicium may be a suit, and the third indicium may be a color.

Based on the randomly selected cards, the gaming machine may determine whether there is a winning combination of cards along one of a plurality of predetermined pay lines in the card matrix. When there is a winning combination, the gaming machine awards winnings to the player based upon a predetermined pay table.

Further objects, features, and advantages of the present invention over the prior art will become apparent from the detailed description of the drawings which follows, when considered with the attached figures.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The patent or application file contains at least one drawing executed in color. Copies of this patent or patent application publication with color drawing(s) will be provided by the Office upon request and payment of the necessary fee.

FIG. 1 illustrates a nonconventional playing card, according to an exemplary embodiment.

FIG. 2 illustrates a pip of a nonconventional playing card, according to an exemplary embodiment.

FIG. 3 illustrates attributes of each playing card in a nonconventional deck of playing cards, according to an exemplary embodiment.

FIG. 4 illustrates rear sides of a nonconventional deck of playing cards, according to an exemplary embodiment.

FIG. 5 illustrates a game table and associated game layout for playing and presenting a game, according to an exemplary embodiment.

FIG. 6 illustrates a gaming system, according to an exemplary embodiment.

FIGS. 7A and 7B are a flow chart which illustrates one method of playing and/or presenting a game, according to an exemplary embodiment.

FIGS. 8A and 8B illustrate card ranks for playing and presenting a game, according to an exemplary embodiment.

FIG. 9 illustrates a gaming machine for presenting a game, according to an exemplary embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

In the following description, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a more thorough description of the present invention. It will be apparent, however, to one skilled in the art, that the present invention may be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, well-known features have not been described in detail so as not to obscure the invention.

Embodiments of the invention comprise nonconventional playing cards, nonconventional decks of playing cards, and methods of playing and presenting games using such cards.

Exemplary nonconventional playing cards and a deck of nonconventional playing cards are illustrated in FIGS. 1-4. In one embodiment, each playing card has a front and a back. Each playing card may be rectangular in shape and have a size similar to conventional playing cards. However, the cards could have other shapes and sizes.

In a preferred embodiment, the front of the playing card displays at least one card indicium, and preferably multiple indicia. The back of the playing card preferably displays one card indicium. In some embodiments, the back of the playing card may contain multiple card indicia. The back of the card might bear ornamentation or the like.

In a preferred embodiment, each playing card is a physical playing card. Such a card might comprise a card stock, such as coated paper or the like. The playing card indicia may be printed upon the front of the card and the ornamentation and playing card indicium may be printed on the back of the card. In other embodiments, the playing card might comprise a graphical representation of a card, such as displayed on an electronic video display based upon graphic or video data.

In one embodiment, the card indicia associated with one or more of the cards comprises three card indicia to create a three-cartesian deck of cards. That is, the cards of the deck are each of the unique combinations of all the ordered triplets that may be formed by the three indicia (such as each combination of X, Y, Z). The front of the one or more cards may display three different card indicia. The back of the one or more cards may display one of the three different card indicia.

As illustrated in FIG. 1, a front of a playing card 10 comprises three different indicia: character, suit, and color. The front of the playing card 10 includes a character value 102, shown here as Ace. The character value 102 may have a range of any desired number of characters. In this exemplary embodiment, there may be five characters including Ace, King, Queen, Jack, and Two (Deuce). However, other characters may be chosen such as Two, Three, Four, Five, and Six, or any other desired combination of characters.

The front of the playing card 10 also includes a suit 104. The suit 104 may be one of any number of desired suits for the card deck. In this embodiment, the suit 104 may be one of the traditional suits familiar to card players including spade, club, heart, or diamond.

Both the character value 102 and the suit 104 are shown in one color. In FIG. 1, the color shown in blue. The color chosen may be one of any desired number of colors. In this embodiment, there are five colors in the deck of cards. The colors in this embodiment are black, red, blue, green, and yellow. However, other colors may be chosen including variations of those colors. The exact shades of the colors may be chosen to allow the colors to be distinguishable even to those with common forms of color-blindness.

Importantly, while the three different indicia used in the deck are character, suit, and color, the deck of cards is not limited to these indicia. Any type of different indicia creating a three-cartesian product deck of cards using three sets of different elements may be used.

In at least two corners of the front of the card 10, for example one corner at the top of the card and one corner at the bottom of the card, there is a combination pip 106. FIG. 2 illustrates an enlarged combination pip according to an exemplary embodiment. The combination pip 204 provides a player with the ability to determine all three indicia of the card in a single icon. As shown in FIG. 2, the combination pip 106 includes a suit 204 surrounding the character 202 of the card. Both the suit 204 and the character 202 are shown in the card's color. In this manner, the pip 106 is comprised of a single icon showing all three indicia of the card. This makes it easy for the player to see the combination pip even though the player's thumb may partially obscure the view of the pip. Further, because the suits are symmetrical, and because the character is placed within the suit, the combination pip 106 is easily recognizable to the player no matter where the player's thumb or finger is placed when lifting the card, for example during game play.

Other embodiments comprise one or more decks of nonconventional playing cards. In one embodiment, such decks comprise combinations of at least two non-conventional playing cards described above.

In one embodiment, as illustrated in FIG. 3, a non-conventional deck of playing cards 300 may comprise one hundred cards. Each of the playing cards comprises indicia from each of the three indicia categories. In this preferred embodiment, the indicia categories of non-conventional deck of playing cards include five distinct indicia in a first category, five distinct indicia in a second category, and four distinct indicia in a third category. Thus, the total number of possible different combinations of indicia for each card is one hundred.

In this embodiment, the first category of indicia may be a character. As mentioned above, in this embodiment, there are five different characters. As shown in FIG. 3, the characters 302 may include Ace (A), King (K), Queen (Q), Jack (J), and 2. In FIG. 3, the one hundred different card combinations are shown in columns based on characters 302.

The second category of indicia may be color 304. In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 3, the colors 304 may include black, red, blue, green, and yellow. Further, the third category of indicia may be suit 306. In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 3, the suits 306 may include spade (

), heart (♥), diamond (♦), and club (

). Thus, each card in the one-hundred card deck has a unique combination of indicia, or of character, color, and suit. Each of these combinations is shown in FIG. 3.

To provide an exciting new aspect to games played using the deck of cards 300, one of the three categories of indicia may be displayed on the back of the card. Thus, even if a card is not turned over to reveal the combination of all three indicia, players in a game may determine at least one indicia of each card in play during a game.

FIG. 4 shows the back of exemplary cards of the deck 300 in FIG. 3. As shown, a first card 402 comprises a black-colored rear side, a second card 404 comprises a red-colored rear side, a third card 406 comprises a blue-colored rear side, a fourth card 408 comprises a green-colored rear side, and a fifth card 410 comprises a yellow-colored rear side. Thus, when any of the cards 402, 404, 406, 408, 410 are in play, all players may determine one of the three characteristics of the cards.

Additional embodiments of the invention comprise methods of game play and presentation using the nonconventional cards of the present invention. Such a game may be played or presented relative to a gaming table. One embodiment of a gaming table in accordance with the invention will be described with reference to FIG. 5. As illustrated in FIG. 5, a game playing surface, such as a gaming table 520, is provided. The game table 520 defines a top or playing surface 522. The game table 520 may include one or more supports, such as a base, legs or the like (not shown) via which the playing surface 522 is elevated above a supporting surface such as a gaming floor.

The shape of the playing surface 522 may vary. In one embodiment, the game table 520 has a rear having a rear edge 524 which is generally straight and has an opposing front having a front edge 526 which is generally arcuate. A bumper or cushion may be located at either or both edges 524, 526.

In one embodiment, the playing surface 522 is generally planar. However, the playing surface 522 could have one or more raised areas and/or one or more depressed areas or other features which are integrated into the table or added to the table, such as by being located on or mounted to the top surface thereof. Various game-related information or features are preferably associated with the game table 520. In one embodiment, the playing surface 522 comprises a gaming felt or similar element(s) which are located over a substrate, such as a planar support. The gaming felt may bear game play information or other information, such as by printing on the felt. This information may vary, such as depending upon the game or games which are to be implemented at the game table 520. For example, as indicated above, printing on the gaming felt may comprise one or more pay tables, card locations 542 (e.g. one or more designated areas at or into which one or more cards may be dealt) and the like.

In one embodiment, the configuration of the game table 520, such as via elements which are associated with the table 520 and information printed on the gaming felt, defines a dealer station 528 where a dealer may run a game, and one or more player positions 530. The dealer station 528 is generally located at the rear edge 524 and the player positions 530 are located opposite the dealer station 528 at the front or front edge 526. The dealer may, for example, stand at the rear of the table adjacent to the dealer station 528. A player may stand or sit adjacent to each player position 530 at the front of the game table 520.

In one embodiment, the game which is presented at the game table 520 comprises a wagering game. Wagers may be placed using physical gaming chips or other elements. In one embodiment, the game table 520 may define one or more wagering areas. For example, as described below relative to a game called California Roll, the game table 520 may define an Ante wager area 544, an Auction bid area 546, a first Play wager area 548, a second Play wager area 550 and third Play wager area 552. These areas or locations may be defined on the game table 520 (such as by printing on a felt surface thereof and/or via raised or depressed areas or other physical features), such as in conjunction with each player position 530.

In another embodiment, wagers and/or bids by players may be sensed by detecting the association of one or gaming chips (or monies or other wagering implements) with one or more input receiving devices or input sensors 532. The input receiving devices or input sensors 532 might comprise buttons (wired or wireless), or other input devices, but preferably comprise proximity sensors. The input receiving devices 532 may be located in or on the game table 520 and are configured to detect inputs, such as provided by players at the playing surface 522. In the case of proximity sensors, the sensors may be any type of proximity sensor now known or later developed, such as IR, acoustic, capacitive, or the like

In one embodiment, one or more input receiving devices 532 are associated with each player position 530, thereby providing a means for each player to provide input relative to game play at the gaming table (and whereby the wagers of each player may be distinguished from those of the other players). For example, a different input receiving device 532 might be associated with each different wagering area, whereby wagers placed by a player relative to one or more different wagering areas may be independently detected.

In one embodiment, the dealer station 528 may include one or more chip trays 534 which are located on or at the game table 520 for storing chips which may be used to pay player winnings and/or in which chips which were used by players to place wagers may be collected.

In one embodiment, the game table 520 may include a number of other features. For example, the game table 520 may define a community card area 560 where community cards are dealt during game play. The game table 520 may also include one or more table displays 536. The table display 536 may comprise an electronic video display (such as an LCD, LED, OLED, DLP or other types of displays which are now known or later developed) or might even comprise a mechanical and/or electro-mechanical display device such as one or more spinning wheels or reels. The table display 536 may be located at or near the game table 520 for use in displaying game related information such as pay table information, game status information, game outcome information, bonus information or the like. The table display 536 might also be used to display promotional information or advertising. In one embodiment, the table display 536 displays the payouts for winning bet outcomes of the present invention.

The game table 520 might also comprise or include various input devices and/or other display devices. The input devices might include one or more dealer input devices such as one or more buttons or a dealer touchscreen display 538. For example, the dealer displays 538 might comprise a display which displays game-related information to the dealer and allows the dealer to provide various inputs.

Of course, various other types of input and display devices might be associated with the game table 520. The game table 520 might also include player touchscreens, inputs buttons or the like.

Additional details of a gaming table in accordance with one embodiment of the invention will be described with reference to FIG. 6. As illustrated, in this embodiment, elements of the game table 520 are associated with or connected to at least one table controller 500. The table controller 500 may be located at the game table 520 or may be remote therefrom.

In one embodiment, the table controller 500 comprises at least one processor 502 which is configured to execute machine readable code fixed in a tangible medium (e.g. “software”). The table controller 500 may also comprise one or more information or data storage devices 504. These data storage devices 504 may comprise any type of data storage device such as ROM, RAM, EPROM or the like, as well as mass storage devices such as hard drives. The data storage devices 504 may store various data, including game code or software which is executable by the processor(s) 502 and other data, such as game data including wager data, game outcome data, images, etc.

The table controller 500 preferably includes one or more communication interfaces 506. The communication interface(s) 506 may facilitate wireless and/or wired communications with one or more remote systems or devices in accordance with various protocols (USB, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Ethernet, Firewire, etc.). In one embodiment, data or information may be exchanged between the processor(s) 502, data storage device(s) 504 and communication interface(s) 506 via one or more interfaces, such as a system bus 508. Of course, the table controller 500 might have other configurations, including other elements or features.

As illustrated in FIG. 6, the one or more input receiving devices 532 of the gaming table 520 may be interfaced with the table controller 500 to that the table controller 500 may receive information from those devices 532 and, in some embodiments, to transmit information to those devices. Likewise, the dealer input and/or display devices, such as the dealer touchscreen 538, may be interfaced to the table controller 500. Also, other input and/or display devices such as the table display 536 may be interfaced to the table controller 500.

In one embodiment, the table controller 500 or other devices associated with the game table 520 may determine player monetary or chip value balances, including based upon monies associated with the table by the player (such as chips purchased), amounts wagered, and amounts won or the like.

The game table 520 of the invention may include or be associated with other elements or devices. For example, the game table 520 might include other gaming equipment, such as one or more player displays (such as located at each player position and configured to display game information, player tracking information, advertising or other information), card shoe(s), card reader(s), card shuffler(s), player tracking devices (such as for reading a player tracking card or other media of a player for use in tracking the player's game play) and the like. The game table 520 might also be connected to external devices. For example, the table controller 500 might be connected to one or more casino servers or systems, such as a casino accounting server which tracks game play at each game table 520, such as relative to the amounts of wagers placed and winnings paid to the players, among other information. The game table 520 might also be connected to a player tracking server and include player tracking elements such as player card readers.

The gaming system might include other elements, such as input receiving device controllers or the like. In one embodiment, the input receiving devices 532 communicate with a hub or aggregator 510 which communicates with the table controller 500. The hub 510 may be configured to read or determine the status of each input receiving device 532 and provide information to the table controller 500, such as when the status of an input receiving device 532 changes. The hub 510 may also comprise a power source for the input receiving devices 500. As another example, a proximity-type input sensor might be configured as a USB type device having a USB controller. The table controller 500 may be configured to control the proximity device as a USB device. In this regard, the processor 502 and/or one or more sub-processors or controllers may be utilized to control the input receiving devices.

In one embodiment of the invention, different input devices might be utilized for receiving different inputs (such as one input device for receiving a wager input and another input device for receiving a “spin” input or the like). In another embodiment, the one or more input receiving devices 532 are configured to receive multiple inputs. Each input receiving device 532 may be configured to receive two or more inputs. The inputs may be game-related inputs by a player and comprise two or more different types of inputs at two or more different times.

Additional details of methods, devices and systems of the invention will now be described. FIGS. 7A and 7B show a flow diagram which illustrates one method of presenting and playing a game in accordance with one embodiment of the invention. As detailed herein, the game might be played or presented at a gaming machine or device, at a gaming table or the like. In a preferred embodiment, the game is played at a gaming table by at least two players, such as a player and another player or a dealer and at least one player, such as up to 9 players or more. This game may be referred to as “California Roll.”

The game is played using the non-conventional deck of cards 300 described above. The deck of cards 300 may be shuffled by the dealer or by a card-shuffling machine and cut by a player. In some embodiments, cards may be “burned” off the top of the deck, face down. The number of burned cards may be based on the number of players, such as six cards plus three times the number of players, as shown below in Table 1.

TABLE 1 # of Players 9 8  7  6  5  4  3  2 # of Games per Shoe 3 3 3-4 4-5 4-5 5-7 6-9 8-13 # of Burned cards 32 29 26 23 20 17 14 11 Minimum # of Cards 84 75 88 95 80 91 90 91 Dealt per Shoe Maximum # of Cards 99 90 81 96 84 90 90 96 Dealt per Shoe

In some embodiments, a “cut card” may be placed on top of the burned pile, then the rest of the deck is placed on top of the cut card. The cards may be placed in a deck shoe for dealing. The deck is re-shuffled after the game where the cut card is drawn.

Preferably, the game is presented as a wagering game in which a player is required to place at least one wager in order to play the game and where the player may be awarded winnings. Thus, in one embodiment, in a step 702, a player places at least one wager, such as an ante wager. The ante wager 702 may be an optional wager. In one preferred embodiment, the ante wager 702 is omitted, and the game starts at step 704.

In one embodiment, a player places one or more chips, coins or the like at the wager location corresponding to the wager(s) they would like to place (such as the Ante wager location 544 as illustrated in FIG. 5), such as by locating the one or more chips or the like in proximity to the one or more sensors for detection thereby. Each wager may be required to be of a certain minimum size and may also have a maximum size.

In a step 704, the game is initiated. In a preferred embodiment, the game is played using a deck of nonconventional cards, such as the deck of cards 300 which is described above, and which is illustrated in FIG. 3.

In a preferred embodiment, two cards are dealt from the deck to each player hand and, if playing with a dealer, two cards are dealt from the deck to a dealer hand. The cards may be dealt in a variety of manners. In the case of a gaming machine, the cards may be generated via random selection and displayed as video images. In the case of a table, the cards may be dealt (such as by the dealer) from a deck or set of physical playing cards, including from a shoe. Preferably, each of the cards which are dealt to the player(s) hand(s) and the dealer hand are dealt or displayed face-down. As mentioned above, with the non-conventional deck of cards, this reveals only one of the three indicia associated with each card (such as color) to each player participating in the game.

Additionally in step 704, a number of door cards are dealt corresponding to the number of players participating in the game. For example, if two players and a dealer are playing, then three door cards may be dealt. The door cards are dealt face down so that only one of the three indicia associated with each door card (such as color) is visible to the players. The player hand cards may be dealt to card location(s) 542 of each player, and the dealer hand cards may be dealt to a card location 542 at a dealer station 528. The door cards may be dealt to the community card location 560.

A door card auction is then conducted encompassing steps 706-720. In step 706, it is determined whether a blind bid has been received. In one embodiment, a blind bid may be required to initiate the auction of the first door card where the blind bid is made by the dealer or a player holding the button and acting as dealer for that game. In another embodiment, the blind bid may be made by any player prior to the door card being turned face up by the dealer.

When a blind bid is received on a door card to be auctioned, the process proceeds to step 708. In step 708, door card auction bids are received from the players. In this step, each of the door card auction bids may also be termed as blind bids because the door card to be auctioned remains face down during the auction. In one embodiment, a timer may be used to control an amount of available time for players to participate in an auction for the door card. For example, the timer may be started upon the receipt of the blind bid and may be reset after each subsequent blind bid. The timer may be set for a short time, such as three seconds, to increase the excitement and intensity of the game. Other times for the auction of a door card may also be used. The timer may be reset upon receipt of each subsequent blind bid.

The door card bids may be placed at the auction bid area 546 on the gaming table. At a gaming machine, the door card bids may be input via a gaming machine input device. Each door card bid may be required to be larger than a previous door card bid by a specific amount. For example, a player making a subsequent door card bid may be required to bid double the amount of the previous bid. In other embodiments, each successive bid may need to be an increase of a predetermined amount. Further, if a player has already received a door card in a previous auction, the player may not participate in bidding for subsequent door cards.

When the time for auctioning the door card is up, the door card is awarded to the player that made highest bid in step 710. The winning bid may be added to a pot to be awarded at the outcome of the game. If other, non-winning bids were made, those bids are returned to the players. In some embodiments, a player with the button acting as dealer and who made a required blind bid may forfeit the required blind bid regardless of whether the player won the auction for the door card. That is, the dealer's required bid may always be required to be added to the pot. If no other bids were made during the auction time, the door card is awarded to the blind bid. In step 712, Prior to the door card being added to the hand of the winning player, the door card is turned face up so that all three indicia of the card are revealed to all players.

After the door card is awarded to the player and turned face up, it is determined whether there are any additional eligible door cards remaining to auctioned in step 720. If there are still eligible door cards, then the process returns to step 706. In some embodiments, a starting bid for a particular player on the next door card to be auctioned must be equal to or greater than the minimum bid the player placed on the previous door card. Further, the minimum next bid for a door card to be auctioned may be set by a specific increment such as by adding the difference between the previous two bids to the previous bid, or as shown by B_(m)=B_(l)+(B_(l)−B_(p)) where B_(m) is the next minimum required bid, B_(l) is the previous bid, and B_(p) is the bid preceding B_(l).

When there is no blind bid received in step 706, the process proceeds to step 714. In step 714, the dealer turns the door card face up revealing all three indicia of the card to the player prior to any player placing a blind bid. Then, in step 716, the dealer starts a timer giving a predetermined time allotment for players to make bids on the revealed door card. For example, the timer may start upon the reveal of the door card in step 714, and the timer may restart upon receipt of each subsequent bid. In some embodiments, the dealer is required to place a bid on each door card (unless the dealer has already won a previous door card). The timer may be set for a short time to increase excitement during the game, and to challenge the players to make quick decision regarding the bidding. For example, the timer may be set to three seconds.

The door card bids may be placed at the auction bid area 546 on the gaming table. At a gaming machine, the door card bids may be input via a gaming machine input device. Each door card bid may be required to be larger than a previous door card bid by a specific amount. For example, a player making a subsequent door card bid may be required to bid double the amount of the previous bid. In other embodiments, each successive bid may need to be an increase of a predetermined amount. Further, if a player has already received a door card in a previous auction, the player may not participate in bidding for subsequent door cards.

When the time for auctioning the door card is up, the door card is awarded to the player that made the highest bid in step 718. If other, non-winning bids were made, those bids are returned to the players. If no bids were made during the auction time, the door card is passed. In some embodiments, when a door card is passed twice, it is no longer eligible to be auctioned during that game. In some embodiments, when a door card is passed twice, no more door cards are eligible for auction during that game.

After the door card is awarded to the player or passed, it is determined whether there are any additional eligible door cards remaining to auctioned in step 720. If there are still eligible door cards, then the process returns to step 706. In some embodiments, a starting bid for a particular player on the next door card to be auctioned must be equal to or greater than the minimum bid the player placed on the previous door card. Further, the minimum next bid for a door card to be auctioned may be set by a specific increment such as by adding the difference between the previous two bids to the previous bid, or as shown by B_(m)=B_(l)+(B_(l)−B_(p)) where B_(m) is the next minimum required bid, B_(l) is the previous bid, and B_(p) is the bid preceding B_(l). In the event that a player fails to acquire a door card, the player may forfeit the ante wager (folds) if an ante wager was optionally implemented and may no longer participate in that game. In some embodiments, players who are not the dealer may fold and any bids may be returned to them, while the dealer or button player may forfeit the bid into the pot to be awarded at the end of the game. In some embodiments where there are few players participating, such as two or three players, rules specific to the dealer or button player described above may apply to all players.

When all door cards have been distributed or when a single door card has been passed twice resulting in no further eligible door cards, the process proceeds to step 722. In step 722, the number of community cards to be dealt is determined. In this embodiment the number of community cards may be determined randomly. For example, a random number generator may randomly generate an outcome between 1-6. Alternatively, a standard die may be rolled to determine the number of community cards. In one embodiment, the die may be rolled by the player with the lowest ranking door card. In one example, the door cards may be ranked based on character, or the door cards may be ranked based on an overall card ranking according to a combination of two or all three indicia. Based on the result of step 722, the community cards are dealt in step 724, such as by dealing the community cards to the community card location 560.

In step 726, two of the community cards are revealed (or one card if only one community card is left). This reveals all three indicia of the revealed community cards to the players. In step 728, the players may place a first play wager after the community cards are revealed. For example, the players may place chips or coins in the first play wager area 548 if the game is played at a table or may place a first wager at a gaming machine if the game is played electronically at a gaming machine.

In one embodiment, the players may place bets in successive order based on the rank of the players' door cards. The player with the highest ranked card may bet first followed in order of rank until the player with the lowest ranked card places her/his wager. At each player's turn, the player may check or call, raise or re-raise, or fold. In some embodiments, a time limit may be placed on the player to decide which action to take during her/his turn.

In some embodiments, the number of raises allowed may be limited, while in other embodiments there is no limit to the amount that a player may bet. In some embodiments, each raise or re-raise must be double the previous raise or bet. The turn order may repeat until all players have either match the current cost to play or have folded. All of the wagers are collected into a main pot except for side pots which are created for players who are “all-in” but cannot match the current cost to play.

In step 730, if all community cards are not reveled, then the process returns to step 726 where the next set of community cards are revealed, and betting continues for another round. When the community cards are all revealed in step 730, the process proceeds to step 732.

In step 732, the outcome of the game is determined, and the wagers are resolved. If only one player remains with a hand after betting, then the player is declared the winner and is awarded the winnings from the main and side pots. If multiple players remain, then the players compare hands formed by a five-card hand using the players two face-down cards, door card, and community cards. When there are side pots in the game, the wagers are resolved starting with the most recently made side pot and finishing with the main pot.

The terminology used to designate hands in the game using the non-conventional deck of cards is shown in Table 2 below.

TABLE 2 Pair Two cards with the same character Doublet Two Pairs each with different characters Triplet Three cards with the same character Boat Pair and a Triplet (Full House) Double Two Pairs with the same characters Quad Four cards with the same character Rainbow Five card hand with every color Quint A Rainbow with each card having the same character Disjointed A hand that has no matching suits or that has no matching colors Suited Two or Three cards with the same character and suit 2-Toned Doublet or Quad divided evenly into two colors Colored Hand with the same character and color Straight Hand with every character (A, K, Q, J, 2) Flush Four or Five cards with the same suit. Paint(ed/ing) Five card hand with the same color

A list of the hand ranking is shown in FIG. 8A and FIG. 8B. The ranking shown in FIGS. 8A and 8B are exemplary and other variations may rank hands differently, and/or may include more or less hand rankings than are shown in FIGS. 8A and 8B. Further, the examples of the various hands shown in FIGS. 8A and 8B are exemplary to aid understanding and are not an exhaustive list of all variations. For example, while the painted straight flush hand (Rank 1) is shown in blue and with a heart suit, the painted straight flush hand could have another color or have another suit. Where a space is completely blank in the example (no character, suit, or color shown), the hand does not use all five cards, such as the Colored Suited Doublet (Rank 12) which is a four-card hand. Where no suit a shown, the hand may include cards with any suit, such as the Straight hand (Rank 28). Where no color is shown, the hand may include cards of any color, such as the Suited Boat hand (Rank 12). Where no character is shown, the hand may include cards of any character, such as the Painting hand (Rank 13).

When the player hands remaining in the game are compared to determine a winner in step 732, a higher ranked hand is determined to prevail over a lower ranked hand. For example, a first hand having a colored quad (Rank 5) beats a second hand having a 2-Tone Flush (Rank 13).

As shown the chart shown in FIGS. 8A and 8B, it is possible for more than one player to achieve a hand with the same rank. For example, one player may have a hand with a Rainbow Straight (rank 16), and another player may have a hand with a Quad 2-Tone (Rank 16). In this instance, the result is declared a tie, and the players may split the respective pot resolved.

In other instances, players may have the same hand. When players achieve the same hand, a tiebreaker may be used to determine the winner instead of splitting the pot being resolved. As shown in FIGS. 8A and 8B, a tie breaker may be based on one of the attributes of the hand. As a first example, a Rainbow Flush hand (Rank 10) may use suit as tiebreaker. In this example, the suits are ranked, such as spade, heart, diamond, club (though any hierarchy may be used), and the Rainbow Flush hand with the highest ranked suit is declared the winner.

In a second tiebreaker example, the tying hands may be a painted straight (Rank 7). In this example, the colors are ranked, such as black, red, blue, green, yellow (though any hierarchy may be used), and the painted straight hand with the highest ranked color is declared the winner.

In a third tiebreaker example, the tying hands may be a 2-Tone (rank 25). In this example, the characters are ranked, such as Ace, King, Queen, Jack, Two (though any hierarchy may be used), and the players' higher ranked pairs of their respective 2-Tone hands are compared with the highest ranked pair based on character being declared the winner. If the players' higher ranked pairs are equally ranked, than the players' lower ranked pairs are compared with the highest lower ranked pair based on character being declared the winner.

Winnings (for winning the main pot and/or side pot(s)) might be paid in the form of chips, electronic credits or the like. The player might cash-out electronic credits to a printed ticket or the like, such as printed and issued by a printer at a gaming table or device. The player might then take that ticket to a cashier station or window for redemption, such as conversion to monetary funds. Likewise, a player might cash out chips in a similar manner.

In one embodiment, another embodiment, the amount wagered in the main pot or one or more side pots might be displayed to players using the table display 536. The displayed information might include, for example, current award values (which amounts may change over time and thus be updated over time, such as where the jackpots are progressive). In one embodiment, as noted above, the dealer might use a dealer control, such as the touch screen 538, to activate the wagering areas 544, 546, 548, 550, 552 at the start of the game, so as to receive the bets from the players. In one embodiment, the players may be paid electronic credit as their award, while in other embodiments, as noted above, a player might be awarded chips.

The game described above may be repeated as desired by the players. In one embodiment, a button or other designation is rotated through the players so that the player each take turns acting as dealer for different games.

In one embodiment, initial wagers, such as for a blind wager during the auction portion of the game, may be randomly assigned. For example, a wager cube may be used to indicate the current blind amount for game. Such amounts on a six-sided cube may be $2, $5, $10, $15, $20, and $25. However, these amounts are exemplary, and others may be used. Further, other means of generator a random value may be used, and more or less than six options for blind wager may be available. In other embodiments, rounds of the game may proceed at incremental amounts shown by the betting cube. For example, the first game may be played at $2 increments, and the next game may be played at $5. In other embodiments, players may choose the value of the game, that is by picking one of the amounts shown by the wager cube. In other embodiments, the winner may choose the next value on the wager cube with which to play.

As indicated, the game of the invention may be implemented in various manners, such as via various gaming machines, devices and/or systems. For example, the methods of game play and presentation may also be implemented via a gaming machine or device. Such a gaming machine may have various configurations.

The gaming machine may be located at a casino (and as such may be referred to as a “casino gaming machine”). As described below, the gaming machine may be part of a gaming system, such as a casino gaming system which links two or more of the gaming machines or one or more gaming machines with other devices, such as one or more table games, kiosks, accounting systems or servers, progressive systems or servers, player tracking systems or servers or the like.

One configuration of a gaming machine 922 is illustrated in FIG. 9. As illustrated, the gaming machine 922 generally comprises a housing or cabinet 926 for supporting and/or enclosing various components required for operation of the gaming machine. In the embodiment illustrated, the housing 926 includes a door located at a front thereof, the door capable of being moved between an open position which allows access to the interior, and a closed position in which access to the interior is generally prevented. The configuration of the gaming machine 922 may vary. In the embodiment illustrated, the gaming machine 922 has an “upright” configuration. However, the gaming machine 922 could have other configurations, shapes or dimensions (such as being of a “slant”-type, “bar-top” or other configuration as is well known to those of skill in the art).

The gaming machine 922 preferably includes at least one first display device 928 configured to display game information. The display device 928 may comprise an electronic video display such as a cathode ray tube (CRT), high resolution flat panel liquid crystal display (LCD), projection LCD, plasma display, field emission display, digital micro-mirror display (DMD), digital light processing display (DLP), LCD touchscreen, a light emitting display (LED) or other suitable displays now known or later developed, in a variety of resolutions, sizes and formats (e.g. 4:3, widescreen or the like). As one example, the display might comprise a 19″ monitor from iBase (www.ibase.com.tw; Taipei, Taiwan, R.O.C.). The display device 928 may be capable of projecting or displaying a wide variety of information, including images, symbols and other indicia or information associated with game play, game promotion or other events. The gaming machine 922 might include more than one display device, such as a main or first display device 28 and a secondary display device. The two or more display devices might be associated with the housing or the gaming machine 922 might also include a top box or other portion which includes the one or more second display devices. Also, the gaming machine 922 might include side displays (such as mounted to the exterior of the housing 926) and might include multiple displays of differing sizes.

The gaming machine 922 is preferably configured to present one or more games upon a player making a monetary payment or wager. In this regard, as described in more detail below, the gaming machine 922 includes mechanism or means for accepting monetary value.

In one embodiment, as noted above, certain base game outcomes and side bet outcomes (but preferably not all outcomes) may be designated as winning outcomes (the non-winning outcomes may be referred to as losing outcomes) and awards may be provided for winning outcomes, such as monetary payments (or representations thereof, such as prize of credits) as detailed herein. As detailed below, the gaming machine 922 preferably includes a mechanism or means for returning unused monetary funds and/or dispensing winnings to a player.

The gaming machine 922 preferably includes one or more player input devices 930 (such as input buttons, plunger mechanisms, a touch-screen display, joystick, touchpad or the like). These one or more devices 930 may be utilized by the player to facilitate game play, such as by providing input or instruction to the gaming machine 922. For example, such input devices 930 may be utilized by a player to place a wager, cause the gaming machine 22 to initiate a game, to “cash out” of the gaming machine, or to provide various other inputs.

In one preferred embodiment, the gaming machine 922 includes at least one microprocessor or controller for controlling the gaming machine, including receiving player input and sending output signals for controlling the various components or peripheral devices of the machine 922 (such as generating game information for display by the display devices). One example of a controller 134 is a Kontron KTQ87/mITX embedded Mini-ITX Motherboard with Intel Z87 Chipset and 4^(th) Generation Intel 17/5/13 Dual and Quad Core CPUs (www.kontron.com; Augsburg, Germany). The controller may be arranged to receive information regarding funds provided by a player to the gaming machine 922, receive input such as a purchase/bet signal when a purchase/bet button is depressed, and receive other inputs from a player. The controller may be arranged to generate information regarding a game, such as generating game information for display by the at least one display device (such as information comprising nonconventional playing cards which are dealt, as described above), for determining winning or losing game outcomes and for displaying information regarding awards for winning game wagers and side bets, among other things.

The controller may be configured to execute machine readable code or “software” or otherwise process information, such as obtained from a remote server. Software or other instructions may be stored at a memory or data storage device, e.g. in a fixed or non-transitory configuration. The memory may also store other information or data, such as data stored in table or other forms (including, but not limited to look-up tables, pay tables and other information including tracked game play information). The gaming machine 922 may also include one or more random number generators for generating random numbers (such as implemented by a random number generator software module stored in the memory and executable by the processor), such as for use in selecting the nonconventional playing cards and for presenting the game in a random fashion (e.g. whereby the game is presented in a manner in which the player cannot control the outcome) or pseudo-random fashion (e.g. such as where the game includes a skill component which can affect the outcome of the game). One embodiment of a random RNG engine, RNGCryptoServiceProvider Class, by Microsoft, is set forth below in Table 3.

TABLE 3 Language: c# .net Code snippet: // // Summary: // Fills an array of bytes with a cryptographically strong sequence of random values. // // Parameters: // data: // The array to fill with a cryptographically strong sequence of random values. // // Exceptions: // T:System.Security.Cryptography.CryptographicException: // The cryptographic service provider (CSP) cannot be acquired. // // T:System.ArgumentNullException: // data is null. static RNGCryptoServiceProvider _crypto = new RNGCryptoServiceProvider( ); var bytes = new byte[1]; _crypto.GetBytes(bytes);

Preferably, the controller is configured to execute machine readable code or instructions (e.g. software) which are configured to implement the game. In this regard, the gaming machine 922 is specially configured to present the game of the invention via specific software and/or hardware which causes the gaming machine to operate uniquely. For example, the controller of the gaming machine 922 may be configured to detect a wager, such as a signal from a player's depressing of an “Ante bet” button. Upon such an event and/or the player otherwise signaling the gaming machine to present the game, the controller may be configured to cause the at least one display 928 to display unique information, such as a unique graphical interface or unique game display, including images of the nonconventional playing cards (and player and/or dealer hands) or other game information. The controller may accept input from a player of game inputs via the one or more player input devices of the gaming machine 922. As indicated above, the machine-readable code may be configured in various manners, such as by having various “modules” of software which are designed to implement specific features of the game play or game presentation.

The gaming machine 922 may be configured to generate and present games in a stand-alone manner or it may be in communication with one or more external devices or systems at one or more times. The gaming machine 922 might communicate with one or more of such external devices or systems via one or more communication ports or other interface devices. These ports or interface devices may be configured to implement various communication protocols (including proprietary protocols) and communicate via wireless, wired or other communication link. For example, the gaming machine 922 may be configured as a server based device and obtain game code or game outcome information from a remote game server (in which event the gaming machine controller may receive game information from the server, such as game outcome information, and use that server-generated information to present the game at the gaming machine).

As indicated, the gaming machine 922 is configured to present one or more wagering games. The gaming machines 922 is preferably configured to accept value, such as in the form of coins, tokens, paper currency or other elements or devices representing value such as monetary funds. Thus, as indicated above, the gaming machine 922 preferably includes a mechanism or means for accepting monetary value. For example, the gaming machine 922 might include a coin acceptor 932 for accepting coins. Of course, associated coin reading/verifying devices and coin storage devices may be associated with the gaming machine 922 if it is configured to accept coins. Likewise, the gaming machine 922 might include a media reader 934. Such a reader may be configured to accept and read/verify paper currency and/or other media such as tickets. Of course, in such event the gaming machine 922 may further be configured with one or more paper currency or ticket storage devices, such as cash boxes, and other paper currency or media handling devices (including transport devices).

The gaming machine 922 might also be configured to read FOB s, magnetic stripe cards or other media having data associated therewith and via which value or funds may be associated with the gaming machine 922. The mechanism for accepting monetary value might also comprise hardware and/or software which allows a player to transfer (such as electronically) funds from an account, such as a casino wagering account, or a bank or other financial institution account. Such a mechanism might include a communication interface which permits the gaming machine to communicate with a mobile phone, PDA, tablet or other electronic device of the player (such as via a physical interface or wired or wireless communications, such as to enable the transfer of funds from the player to the gaming machine or system.

When the player associates funds with the gaming machine or an associated system, a credit balance is generated. The credit balance may comprise a plurality of monetary value credits. The player may wager some or all of the associated monetary value, such as by wagering one or more of the credits associated with the credit balance. For example, the player might provide input to a wager button or touch screen interface to wager a certain number of credits (such as “Bet 1 Credit”, “Bet 5 Credits”, “Bet Maximum Credits” or other options). Such wager input options may allow the player to wager on the base game and optionally place the side bet in accordance with the present invention. In one embodiment, when the player's wager is received, the player's credit balance is reduced by the number of wagered credits. The player might then provide a separate input to begin the game. In other embodiment, the player might select a “play game” input, which input is taken to comprise both an instruction to place a wager (such as of a pre-set or pre-selected number of credits) and to start the game. Of course, other configurations may be implemented for accepting monetary value from the player and for allowing the player to place a wager from the associated monetary value.

In one embodiment, the gaming machine 922 is configured to award winnings for one or more winning wagering game outcomes. Such winnings may be represented as credits, points or the like. In one embodiment, the player may “cash out” and thus remove previously associated funds and any awarded winnings or such may otherwise be paid to the player. These winnings may be associated with the player's credit balance, thus increasing the player's credit balance.

In one embodiment, the player may provide an input to the gaming machine 922 to indicate their desire to cash out, such as by selecting a “cash out” button or touch screen feature or providing other input. In response, a monetary value represented by the player's credit balance or the like is preferably paid, transferred or otherwise provided to the player. For example, upon an award or at cash-out, associated funds may be paid to the player by the gaming machine 922 dispensing coins to a coin tray 940. In another embodiment, funds may be issued by dispensing paper currency or other media. In yet another embodiment, a player may be issued a media, such as a printed ticket, which ticket represents the value which was paid or cashed out of the machine. The aspects of gaming machine “ticketing” systems are well known. One such system is described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,048,269 to Burns, which is incorporated herein in its entirety by reference. In yet another embodiment, the cash-out might result in the dispensing of a card or other media which stores or represents the cashed-out funds, such as by writing funds information to a magnetic stripe of a card which is inserted into a media writer of the gaming machine or dispensed from the machine. In this regard, the gaming machine 922 may include one or more media printers or writers 48. In other embodiments, the cash-out mechanism may result in the funds value being transferred to an external device or account, such as a player's casino account (such as associated with a casino server), a remote bank or other financial account, or an electronic device such as a player's phone, PDA or tablet.

The gaming machine 922 may also include a player tracking device, such as a card reader 966 and/or an associated keypad 970 or other input device (such as a touch screen display). Such player tracking devices are well known and may permit the game operator to track play of players of the gaming machine. The tracked play may be utilized to offer player bonuses or awards.

The main game controller or processor may communicate with several of the peripheral devices via one or more intermediary controllers. For example, some of the peripheral devices might comprise USB type or enabled devices which are controlled by an intermediary USB controller.

A casino may have numerous such gaming machines 922, such as located on a casino floor or in other locations. Of course, such gaming machines 922 might be used in other environments, such as an airport, a bar or tavern or other locations.

It will be appreciated that the gaming machine illustrated in FIG. 9 is only exemplary of one embodiment of a gaming machine. For example, it is possible to for the gaming machine to have various other configurations, including different shapes and styles and having different components than as just described.

For example, instead of comprising a “casino”-style gaming machine, it is possible for the game of the invention to be presented on a computing device, including at a home or office computer or a player's mobile electronic device such as a PDA, phone or the like. In one embodiment, a player might log in to a casino server and the controller of the casino server may cause game information to be delivered to the player's computer via a communication link and then be displayed on a display of the player's computer. The communication link might comprise or include the Internet, a casino network such as a wired or wireless LAN, or combinations of public and/or private networks including wired and/or wireless links. In such a configuration it will be noted that the term “controller” may comprise more than one device. For example, in a server-based environment, a controller at a server may generate game information and transmit that information to a local controller at a gaming machine or a player's computer or other electronic device. The local controller at the gaming machine or the player's computer or other electronic device may then cause game information to be displayed on one or more associated displays.

The gaming machine 922 may, as noted above, be part of a system which includes other devices. For example, the gaming machine 922 may communicate with one or more casino systems, such as a player tracking server or system, an accounting system or server, a ticketing system, a bonusing system, a tournament system, other gaming machines, and external devices.

Such a gaming machine 922 might be used, for example, to present the above-referenced game to one or more players in a configuration where the dealer is essentially automated.

The invention has numerous advantages. First, nonconventional cards and nonconventional decks of cards are provided. These decks of cards permit games to be played which have different features, odds, and the like, from traditional games which use conventional playing cards and conventional decks of such cards.

In one example, the non-conventional deck of cards may be used to present a slot game on a gaming machine, such as the gaming machine described above. For example, the player may present a wager at the gaming machine, and the gaming machine may present a matrix of cards from the non-conventional deck of cards 300 described above.

In some embodiments, the gaming machine may use an “infinite deck” where each card displayed has an equal chance of being displayed regardless of previous cards dealt. In another embodiment, a single deck or multiple decks of cards may be used.

The matrix presented on the display of the gaming machine may be any matrix having predetermined pay lines. In one preferred embodiment, the matrix may be a 3×3 randomly displaying nine cards after a wager placed by the player at the gaming machine. One or more predefined pay lines may be designated in the matrix to determine whether winning combinations of cards exist on the pay lines.

The wager may be awarded as set forth in the pay table in Table 4 below.

TABLE 4 Winning Combinations Payouts Matching Quads 7,254:1    Disjointed Quads 1,209:1    Colored Quads 936:1  Suited Quads 558:1  Matching Triplet 12:1  Colored Triplet 3:1 Suited Triplet 2:1 Connector 2:1 Disjointed Triplet 1:1

If the player achieves one of the winning combinations as set forth above on one of the predetermined pay lines, the gaming machine may award winnings to the player, such as by adding an amount of credits to the credit balance maintained at the gaming machine, which may later be cashed out by the player by any known mechanism such as by dispensing, cash, coins, or tickets or by adding the amount to a gaming account associated with the player.

It will be understood that the above described arrangements of apparatus and the method there from are merely illustrative of applications of the principles of this invention and many other embodiments and modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the claims. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A nonconventional deck of playing cards comprising: a plurality of playing cards, each card of the plurality of playing cards having a card face bearing a first indicium of a first set of unique indicia, a second indicium of a second set of unique indicia, and a third indicium of a third set of unique indicia.
 2. The nonconventional deck of playing cards of claim 1, wherein the first set of unique indicia comprises card characters, the second set of unique indicia comprises suits, and the third set of unique indicia comprises color.
 3. The nonconventional deck of playing cards of claim 2, wherein the characters comprise Ace, King, Queen, Jack or Deuce.
 4. The nonconventional deck of playing cards of claim 3 wherein the plurality of playing cards comprises twenty cards bearing the Ace, twenty cards bearing the King, twenty cards bearing the Queen, twenty cards bearing the Jack, and twenty cards bearing the Deuce.
 5. The nonconventional deck of playing cards of claim 4 wherein the color comprises five different colors, and the twenty cards bearing the Ace comprise four cards of each of the five different colors.
 6. The nonconventional deck of playing cards of claim 5 wherein the suits comprise Spade, Club, Diamond, and Heart, and the twenty cards bearing the Ace comprise five cards in each of Spade, Club, Diamond, and Heart.
 7. The nonconventional deck of playing cards of claim 2, wherein the characters have a first defined hierarchy, the suits have a second defined hierarchy, and the colors have a third defined hierarchy.
 8. The nonconventional deck of playing cards of claim 1, wherein a reverse side opposite the face of each card of the plurality of playing cards comprises one of the first, second, or third indicium.
 9. The nonconventional deck of playing cards of claim 1, wherein each card comprises a unique cartesian product based on the ordered triplets created from the first set of unique indicia, the second set of unique indicia, and the third set of unique indicia.
 10. A method of game play using a nonconventional deck of cards comprising: providing a plurality of playing cards, each card of the plurality of playing cards having a card face bearing at least a first indicium, a second indicium, and a third indicium, the first indicium comprising a card character, the second indicium comprising a suit, and the third indicium comprising a color; providing a gaming table having a playing surface and a game layout; dealing a two-card hand to each player from said deck of nonconventional playing cards; dealing of door cards, an amount of door cards to be dealt corresponding to a number of players participating in the game; auctioning each door card and awarding each door card to a player making a highest door card auction bid for each door card; dealing community cards; receiving at least one play wager or an election to fold from each of the players; determining an outcome of the game with reference to a five-card hand formed by each player's two-card hand, each player's door card, and the community cards; and resolving the at least one play wager.
 11. The method of claim 10 wherein said step of determining an outcome comprises determining which of the five-card hands outranks all other five-card hands and designating a winning hand according to a predetermined five-card hand ranking based on the first, second, and third indicia.
 12. The method of claim 10 wherein a minimum next bid is set during the auction for subsequent bids, where the minimum next bid B_(m) is equal to a previous bid B_(l) plus a difference between the previous bid B_(l) and a bid B_(p) that is the bid preceding B_(l), or B_(m)=B_(l)+(B_(l)−B_(p)).
 13. The method of claim 10, wherein one of the first, second, or third indicium is shown on a reverse side of the card face of each card.
 14. The method of claim 13, wherein the two-card hand dealt to each player is dealt with the card face down.
 15. The method of claim 14, wherein when a blind bid is received prior to the auctioning step for a first door card, the auctioning step for the first door card is completed with the first door card face down, and wherein when the blind bid is not received prior to the auctioning step for the first door card, the auctioning step for the first door card is completed with the first door card face up.
 16. The method of claim 15, wherein an amount of the blind bid is set based on a value shown by a wager cube.
 17. The method of claim 10, wherein a number of the community cards to be dealt is randomly determined.
 18. The method of claim 10, wherein two of the community cards are revealed prior to receiving the at least one play wager or the election to fold.
 19. The method of claim 10, wherein the plurality of playing cards comprises one hundred playing cards, the character being one of five different characters, the suit being one of four different suits, and the color being one of five different colors.
 20. A method for presenting a game at a gaming machine, the method comprising: providing a gaming machine having an input device, at least one display, a wager accepting device configured to receive monetary value from a player, and a processor configured to execute machine readable instructions stored on the gaming machine, which when executed cause the gaming machine to receive a wager from the player via the input device; display on the at least one display cards in each of a plurality of card locations of a card matrix, the displayed cards being randomly selected from a nonconventional deck of cards where each card has a card face bearing at least a first indicium, a second indicium and a third indicium, the first indicium comprising a card character, the second indicium comprising a suit, and the third indicium comprising a color; determining whether there is a winning combination of cards along one of a plurality of predetermined pay lines in the card matrix; and awarding winnings to the player when it is determined there is a winning combination based upon a predetermined pay table. 